Hard work pays off for MHS orchestra members

May 27, 2014

This spring, members of the Minot High School Orchestra had the opportunity to experience Walt Disney's words firsthand when they competed in the Disney Festival.

Over the course of the 2013-2014 school year, these students put in a great number of hours to rehearse the pieces that they would be performing at the competition. They would meet once - sometimes twice - a day in order to prepare the music and hone their techniques. The kids learned a great deal about the music they were playing and worked diligently to achieve the success that they were longing for.

Upon arriving in Florida, the students had the opportunity to perform at Downtown Disney as one last practice before heading to Hollywood Studios for the actual festival the next morning. The concert at Downtown Disney went well, and a very large crowd appeared to enjoy the music that was being played. The next day, the group of 68 students traveled to Hollywood Studios - the park in which the Disney Festival would happen. Minot High School had the opportunity perform as three different groups: 18th century ensemble, "Just the Basics" cell and bass ensemble, and finally the entire string orchestra as a whole. After they were done playing, the students, along with their two instructors, Jim Tengesdal and Kari Moen, left happy with their performance and anxious for the award ceremony that would be held the next night, back at Hollywood Studios. The students soon came to the realization that all of their hard work and preparation paid off. The Minot High School Orchestra received the "Best in Class Award," "Just the Basics" and the century ensemble received "Excellent" ratings, and the orchestra took home gold!

Knowing that they had accomplished everything they were hoping for, the students were able to enjoy the rest of their trip - visiting parks each day, swimming at the pool, and eating tons of food! They got to experience everything that Disney World had to offer. The group also took a bus to Universal Studios for a day, and got to experience the ocean - some for the first time in their lives - while taking a trip to Daytona Beach for a day. Memory upon memory, this group of kids will never forget this trip, and they will never forget the feeling that success brought them when they found out that all of their hard work had paid off.